New toilets for inmates,
says judge in his ruling
PHILIPSBURG--No electricity fees but new toilets. That is what the Pointe Blanche Inmates Association gained from an injunction filed against the Government of the Netherlands Antilles for what they considered unequal treatment compared with inmates incarcerated in Curaçao.
The inmates’ grievances included the non-availability of a doctor, psychologist and psychiatrist, old-fashioned bathroom facilities, the lack of rehabilitation projects, the fact that detainees cannot work outside prison, and payment of a monthly NAf. 10 electricity fee for the use of cable TV.
Judge Frans Vennix ruled that within one year, the outdated toilets in the cells should be replaced by modern ones. He also ordered government to stop charging inmates for the supply of electricity.
The Judge imposed a penal sum of NAf. 1,000 per day, in case the Federal Government did not comply with this ruling.
The Judge dismissed the other complaints filed by the inmates, but indicated that government should make sure that things were in proper order and that inmates were being offered an “acceptable and humane environment.”
He therefore recommended that government should improve the conditions in prison in general, and specifically mentioned courses and classes for inmates and the opportunity for inmates to work outside the prison walls.
However, the Judge did not rule on these points because the complaints were insufficiently substantiated, and should be dealt with in a regular court case, he said.
Judge Vennix ordered the government to pay the costs of the injunction, estimated at Naf. 2,152.50.
The Inmates Association took the government to Court in summary proceedings after parties failed to reach a full agreement on a list of grievances issued by the Association in July.
The inmates had requested equal treatment and similar facilities to those provided to their counterparts in Curaçao and Bonaire, and said their treatment in the Pointe Blanche prison was “unacceptable” and in violation of basic human rights.
Judge Vennix indicated in his ruling, made public on Monday, that although inmates in Curaçao and St. Maarten were not incarcerated under equal circumstances, this did not mean that the circumstances in the Pointe Blanche Prison were to be considered unacceptable.
